Butchered for playing music too loud

BY PAUL HIGGINS

A man stabbed his neighbour to death in a dispute over loud music, a court has heard.

Belfast Crown Court heard that David Corr (24) suffered a total of 37 wounds in the frenzied attack at the hands of Barry Cavan, who lived above him in Cuchullain House in the New Lodge in north Belfast.

Last month Cavan (25) was jailed for life by judge Mr Justice Weir after he pleaded guilty to murdering talented skateboarder and busker Mr Corr, also known as Dee, on March 15 last year, and yesterday the facts of the case were heard for the first time. Prosecuting QC Liam McCollum said it was an "unusual and very tragic case" and outlined how Cavan himself had called the police saying he had stabbed his neighbour.

Officers found Cavan, his hands covered in blood, in the hallway of Mr Corr's flat while his victim was in the living room, his T-shirt "covered in blood".

Mr McCollum said a post-mortem examination revealed that many of the injuries were "defensive wounds" with evidence that Cavan continued the atttack even after his victim had stopped breathing.

Arrested and cautioned, Cavan told police he had gone to the flat over an ongoing dispute about Mr Corr's loud music disturbing him.

Cavan further claimed the fact that he was a Protestant living in a mainly nationalist area also added to his paranoia.

Mr McCollum said that when police examined Cavan's mobile phone, they uncovered text messages he had sent out "threatening that he would kill Mr Corr if he didn't turn his music down".

During interviews, Cavan claimed he had drunk around four litres of cider that day and admitted killing his neighbour.

Defence QC Eilis McDermott said there was evidence that Cavan had complained about noise levels a number of times and that Mr Corr had told Cavan he would wear headphones when he was listening to his music.

Submitting that the case was close to being one of manslaughter, she said both the defendant and his victim had their own mental problems to deal with, problems which exacerbated the dispute over music.

The pair had even socialised on a few occasions, revealed the lawyer, who told the court Mr Corr had witnessed Cavan receiving a bad beating, and adding it was this beating which resulted in Cavan carrying a knife.

Remanding Cavan back into custody, Mr Justice Weir said he would fix the minimum tariff the killer must serve before being considered for release next week after he had again read the papers and reports in the case.